Jair Bolsonary, Presidential Candidate from the Social Liberal Party has won the presidential elections (Photo: Facebook)

In what is now almost confirmed to be a global trend, another Far-right candidate has won elections – this time it is Jair Bolsonaro who won the majority votes in Brazil’s presidential elections.

With almost all of the votes counted, Bolsonaro has 55% of the votes beating Fernando Haddad from the left-wing Workers Party who won 45% of the votes.

Bolsonaro’s win signals a political shift for South America's most populous nation and largest economy. Bolsonaro gave an internet address via Facebook Live, shunning a traditional press conference due to security concerns. "We could no longer be flirting with socialism, communism, populism and extremism on the left," he said.

Bolsonaro is a deeply polarising figure who campaigned on the platform of reducing violent crime and eliminating corruption in the country. He also wants to increase gun ownership and has pledged to give police "carte blanche" to kill.

But Bolsonaro is infamously referred to as “Latin America’s Trump” as he has a history of making disparaging remarks against LGBT people, women and minorities and has spoken of his support for torture and extrajudicial police killings.

His opponents have also repeatedly pointed out Bolsonaro’s evocation of Brazil’s past under military rule and they fear that he will become an authoritarian leader. But in his victory speech the president-elect said that he would defend "the constitution, democracy and freedom". "This is not the promise of a party, nor the word of a man. It is an oath before God," he said.

Bolsonaro has also been criticised for his vague economic plans which include proposals to reduce government "waste" and reduced state intervention in the economy. He wants to pull Brazil out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, arguing that its requirements compromise Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon region.

Bolsonaro will be sworn in on 1 January 2019 and replace outgoing President Michel Temer, who is leaving office with a record low approval rating of 2%.